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Craft of Writing

Sonja Herbert

Bare your Soul and Get Published! Writing Inspirational True Stories

You may not realize it, but you, too, have an interesting story to tell. Your personal stories are presently in great demand for book series such as Chicken Soup for the Soul, A Cup of Comfort, Chocolate for a Woman's Soul, and others. Many magazines are also looking for such true life stories. And, every writer has plenty of life experiences to write about.

When you write a personal inspirational story, you'll not only learn how to write creative non-fiction, you will also hone your general writing skills. Writing such personal stories can be the way to break into print and get your name out there. And to top it, depending on the publisher, these stories pay quite well.

If you think that nothing worthwhile ever happened to you, and you couldn't possibly write such a story, you are mistaken. In this article I will show you how to come up with ideas, and how to turn such every-day experiences into the kind of stories these books and magazines pay money for.

Here are eight simple steps to tackle a personal inspirational story:

1. Research the Market
   Click on chickensoup.com or adamsmedia.com, and search Google for anthologies. Check out their future titles. Look at the subjects they are planning to write about. Many of these subjects might ring a bell with you. You might just be a single parent, or might have a special pet or child.
   
   
2. Decide on the Topic
   The next step is to decide which of the future titles of these planned books make you feel the most comfortable. These would be the subjects that you want to write for. Don't worry if you can't right off think of anything out of the ordinary in your life that would relate to that subject. If you're interested in writing about a specific subject, you probably have a story lurking in the back of your mind.
   
   
3. Study the Writers' Guidelines
   Carefully read the guidelines on the website for the book you have chosen. Also read their general guidelines for submission. Write down the word limit and study the other suggestions the website gives for writing a true story for their books.
   
   Now that you have done your research, you're armed with the tools that will help you to write the perfect story to submit.
   
   
4. Brainstorm
   The fourth step might be the easiest for some writers, and the hardest for others. I'd recommend brainstorming with a piece of paper and a pencil. Sit somewhere comfortable (turn the TV off) and make a list of all the events that happened to you about that subject. For example, let's take pregnancy. I wrote these subjects on my personal list:

   a. Miscarriage
   b. The first time I heard her heartbeat
   c. Heartburn
   d. False labor
   e. I didn't want to know the sex of the baby
   f. Appetite
   g. Trouble sleeping

   As you write your list, something might already stand out, an event or happening you remember clearly. For example, I remembered how I avoided a miscarriage by drinking a concoction made of hot pepper. I thought, yes, that experience was funny and uplifting, because I had my baby, and I never was sure if it was the hot pepper or not.
   
   
5. Outline
   After you choose the incident you want to write about, you need to write a quick outline of your experience. When your outline is finished, look it over and check to see if these three points are present in your story:

   a. A low point - In my case, I was in danger of miscarrying
   b. A high point - I didn't miscarry, after all
   c. A lesson learned - I learned that if I'd put my faith in God and do what I could, I'd be all right.

6. Recall
   After you've made sure your three high points are present in the story, go ahead and write it out. You might not remember all the details about your experience, but that's where the 'creative' part of your writing comes in.
   
   If you don't remember smaller details, don't gloss them over with generalities. Your personal story needs to make the readers feel as if they are right there with you. Make the reader hear, see, smell, feel and even taste the story. The secret is in the details from all five senses.  You might not exactly remember what details were present when the story happened to you, but you can creatively remember them. Close your eyes, lean back in your chair, and visualize the way it probably happened. Sometimes the real details will come back to you, and sometimes you aren't sure. Let you feeling for the truth of your story guide you.
   
   When you get back to your computer, make sure and add these details to your story.
   
   In my "Hot Pepper" story, I already had a toddler, so I wrote about what she might have been doing when I discovered I might miscarry. I recreated a conversation with my friend who helped me through the ordeal, and described how I felt in detail.
   
   
7. Revise
   For some, the hardest part is done with the first draft, and for others, it begins with the revision. Whichever way you feel about revising, don't skip that part. The better polished your story is, the more likely it will be accepted.
   
   Let your finished first draft sit for a few days, then re-read it to make sure it has all three of the major high points, and the details are colorful and help the reader 'see' what happened. Now is the time to add anything that makes the story more interesting and colorful, anything you remember or that came to you.
   
   After you revise, read your piece to your writer's group or writing buddy, to get feedback from someone who is not familiar with the story. Ask your group specific questions, like, "Where did your attention wander?" "What part was hard for you to visualize?" "What parts were hard for you to understand?"
   
   Then take their feedback and revise again.
   
   
8. Submit
   Read your story one more time and fix anything you overlooked. Access the website of the anthology you have chosen, and submit your story. It might take more than a year before you hear back. Be patient, and while you wait, keep writing!